For Rogue or for Worse
by Abey-2810
Summary: Written for a friend at first but now I share it with all. This is a story that happened while Naruto is in training with Jiraiya during the last 2 1/2 years.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue: Introduction to the World of Ninja

Long ago, the five great nations of the world began to flourish and take root in the world. The Lands of Fire, Lightning, Earth, Wind, and Water, known as "The Five Great Shinobi (ninja) Nations" each have their own main village, from which they train their young students to become respected ninjas: Fire: Leaf, Earth: Stone, Wind: Sand, Lightning: Cloud, and Water: Mist. Other villages are known, but none of them reside in any of the Five Great Nations. While most of the time a villages ninja are loyal to their countries, there are…certain ninja that seem to follow their own rules. They are called "Rogue ninjas" and thus our story begins.

Chapter 1

**Mist and Rain**

It is another day in The Land of Fire whose village, The Hidden Leaf Village, is isolated by a wide and thick forest which suits their battle needs. Yet there is one dwelling in that forest that does not belong. A man sits under a tree, enjoying the breeze of the forest. He wears a one piece long black suit which is very breathable, allowing him to move more swiftly. Over that he wears a black vest often wore by higher class ninja. The vest is black and has slots and pockets on it for storage of documents and such. On his feet is the classic footwear of any ninja: non-toe closed shoes, for traveling purposes. Next to him lays a great sword almost 6 feet in length and nearly 2 feet wide, with the blade sharply bent at an angle for tearing away at enemies. His hair is also black, short and is sort of spiky. While he is wearing a headband on his head that is cocked to the left, this headband says that he is a ninja from The Hidden Mist Village.

"You never feel a breeze anything like this back at home." he said. "Unless you count the breeze coming in from the sea, and that's a salty like breeze. Nothing like this Leaf Village breeze here, where it's pure and devoid of anything foul. But I don't have time to rest here forever. I have to keep moving along, or eventually I'm going to get caught. I've gone through too much for that to dream to vanish before my eyes."

* * *

At the same time he's resting, someone _IS _closing in on him, but only by pure coincidental accident. A figure swiftly moves through the trees, jumping on a branch every once in a while. "Oh damn I hope I've lost them. It has been a while since I've seen them but tracker ninja never rest. I wouldn't be surprised if they were just waiting for me to take a break, and then jump on me when they don't think I'll expect it. But I'm not just any old regular ninja. They will see that soon enough."

The figure finally jumps from the trees and lands on a small clearing in the forest. The figure is none other than a female ninja from the Hidden Rain Village. Her hair, dark brown, is shoulder length. Under her dark red kimono that's she's wearing up to her knees are black shorts that stop at the thigh. The shorts are not loose, and are made that way to prevent snagging during drawn out fights. She has her ninja tools holster on her right thigh, right under her katana which she keeps at her waist.

"Whew, it looks like I can finally rest for a while." she said. Then she turns around and draws her sword. The Mist ninja jumps from the trees and brandishes his great sword, which crosses blades with the female's katana. For a minute they are locked together, in a dead fast standstill but as they look at each other, they jump back from each other. "I know who you are and chances are you know me." The female said.

"Yes I do know you." said the male ninja. "You're Kaori Tanaka, rogue ninja of the Hidden Rain Village. I didn't even have to look at your headband tied around your waist to know that. Your kimono tells all, it's red from the blood of that wealthy family's child you murdered. I also heard that it's red because even from the day you were young, you were always seeing red. Your temper exceeds your reputation. I could feel a sense of rage from you the moment we crossed blades."

Kaori gave a small smile but didn't relax her grip on her sword. "Very good. That murder was over 2 years ago and yet I'm still being hunted for it this very day. You're guilty of a crime too you know. From your attire I'd guess you're Dokina Abetara of the Hidden Mist Village. You're the last remaining member of that group led by Zabuza Momochi who attempted to overthrow the Land of Water's government. You failed in doing so and were forced to flee the country with the tracker ninjas on your heels. After a while those trackers succeeded in killing everyone, except you and Zabuza who was killed a year and a half ago by a ninja from this land.

Dokina gave her a small smile back but, like Kaori, didn't relax his grip. "It is because of Zabuza that I am as strong as I am now. He taught me everything that he knew including the mastery of Water Jutsu and swordsmanship. Do not think that this fight will be easy even for a minute." "Then come at me with all your might Dokina."

"With pleasure Kaori. I will enjoy this fight"

Dokina rushed Kaori and again they crossed blades once, two, three times in under a second. While Kaori had a smaller sword that was easier to use, Dokina's sword was larger and it all Kaori could go was defend until she could find an opening in his offense. Then, she found it. Now it was her turn to start attacking Dokina and forcing him to defend himself from her attacks. It didn't seem like either side was going to give anytime soon. Then Dokina let go of his sword and while he was leaping backwards began forming hand signs very rapidly. "Water Style: Water Bullets Jutsu" Kaori looked up and noticed that it had recently been raining in the area where they were fighting. Water was still on every leaf of every tree surrounding them.

"Ah yes you seem to know it now don't you." Dokina said quietly. "With this jutsu I can now change the weight of water from being as light as air to as heavy as stone. I'll crush you beneath a sheet of water." With that, water began to fall from the trees and this rain would be painful if any of those droplets hit her. Kaori jumped from one spot to another trying to avoid being hit. She knew that Dokina was just trying to tire her out and wait for her to slow down. Dokina would not let all the rain fall down at once which meant that he was going to unleash a huge collection of them at the end. She had to act quickly and counterattack before he could do that.

As she pondered this three shuriken came out of nowhere, flying right at her. She heard them whistling through the air and swung her katana in their direction, parrying all three of them and knocking them to the ground making them useless. "It's an ambush" she said. Dokina rushed over and grabbed his sword, readying himself for any kind of attack. Both of them were so busy trying to figure out where the random attack had some from that soon they found themselves back to back. "Just know that I still don't trust you." Kaori said. "Hmph, the same goes for me." Dokina replied. They both waited quietly for anything sudden like a noise or another attack from a different direction. "It appears as though they are disappointed with failing to kill you and are probably waiting for us to drop our guard again." Dokina said quietly. "Only an amateur would drop their guard after a mistake like that." Kaori quietly replied back. But she did relax her grip but only a little.

"DIE WRETCH."

Dokina and Kaori looked up to see a man with a sword descending upon them. He swung his sword hard and struck Kaori in the shoulder. Kaori didn't shout out in pain or anything. Instead she smiled again and laughed an evil laugh. "But only a REAL amateur would even think of falling for this trick." Kaori melted, becoming a puddle of water on the ground. "What, a Water Clone Jutsu?" the man said not knowing what had just happened.

Suddenly Kaori appeared behind him unhurt and unscathed. "Let me explain to you what your tiny brain couldn't measure." She explained. "Dokina quickly conjured up a water clone that used a simple Transformation Jutsu to look like me. I, in the meantime, waited in the shadows of the trees for the moment when you would attack. All this happened between the time I swung my katana and the time me and Dokina went back to back. I'm impressed Dokina. Even in the heat of battle you read my mind and could understand me without words." She then used her katana to end the life of her would-be attacker. "I always knew I would be followed by someone trying to kill me. I didn't think it would be someone like him."

"He doesn't appear to be more than a simple bandit by the looks of his clothes." Dokina observed. "Plus, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of their being more of them around here. Bandits never like to go out for solo plunders. They prefer to hunt in small groups of two or three, sometimes four." "Then why don't we flush out the rest." Kaori declared, reaching into her holster. She withdrew three small throwing stars and threw them in a certain direction. Her hunch was right, as three other bandits jumped from the trees. "Simple bandits trying to steal something of value from rogue ninjas like us…how laughable." Kaori snickered.

"You may have ended the life of one of our members, but you haven't won yet." They cried. "The Forest Bandits have made a name for themselves plundering merchants and peddlers traveling the forests of this land. We now have evened the field of this battle in our favor. There are three of us and two of you."

"See that's where you're wrong." Dokina coldly said. "We're standing in the Land of Fire, home to the ninja who live here in the Hidden Leaf Village. You guys are just common thieves who should have been rubbed out years ago. The only reason why the village doesn't do anything about you is because you're not worth the effort at all. You think that just because there are two of you that the odds are even? Then you don't know who we are. I am Dokina Abetara of The Village Hidden In The Mist." The water that he had been storing up for the attack against Kaori fell from the sky and hit one of the bandits with the force of a landslide, creating a small crater in the earth and crushing him under a ton of heavy water.

This seemed to scare the remaining bandits who didn't expect to run into someone as powerful as Dokina and Kaori. One of them fell backwards on his ass, too scared to move. The other one was also scared but not too scared to where he couldn't move. He slowly backed away from the scene, a look of terror in his eyes. Kaori slowly walked toward him, keeping up with his steps. For every step the bandit took forward Kaori took a step forward. This continued until finally Kaori had backed him up to a very tall tree.

"So you all think me to be some wretch huh?" she yelled angrily, her rage building up inside her. "I am no wretch. I am someone to be feared. I am Kaori Tanaka, of The Village Hidden In The Rain. Ninja Art: Tree Capture Death." Kaori completed her hand signs and seemed to disappear into thin air. The bandit looked around trying to find her. He was so busy trying to find her he didn't notice the vines creeping out from underneath the tree until they had him bound to the tree, unable to move or escape. As he was struggling, Kaori emerged, from the waist up, out of the tree right above the struggling bandit. When he finally looked up, all he saw was her hand reaching for him. He didn't even have time to scream before she ended his life. The vines let his lifeless body go and fall to the ground. Kaori soon emerged from the tree.

That move she used was a simple form of Genjutsu, jutsu that affected the five senses of the human body, enabling her to attack from a distance without exposing herself to danger. Normally she would have had to extract more chakra, the life force that ninja need to perform jutsu, to create a tree to bind him to. She was just lucky to have been fighting in the forest.

"And then there was one." Kaori and Dokina said simultaneously, looking at the last bandit sitting there too scared to move. "Would you love to have the honors?" Dokina asked.

"No I want you to kill him." Kaori replied back.

"I really think you should be the one to do it."

"I mean it. You should go ahead and do the deed."

"You should kill him."

"No you should kill him."

They were so into their argument that they didn't notice their prey trying to sneak away. When they did he was bolting away at full sprint trying to avoid being killed.

"You know what, let's just both kill him."

"You read my mind."

With swords drawn they rushed him on both sides. The both swung at him. He stopped, they stopped, and time seemed to stop. It was just Dokina and Kaori side to side as if frozen. The bandit was just standing still as well. When the wind began blowing and the leaves began dancing around them, he gave a death groan and fell to the ground from two massive wounds given to him by two sword attacks.

Dokina and Kaori stood up again and looked at each other. Now that the threat to them was done, there was still a matter of their battle. They never did get the chance to finish. For a while they just stood there, not moving or attacking or anything. Finally Kaori broke the silence between them.

"You fought well. I'm impressed with your performance. Then again, I shouldn't expect anything less from a former pupil of Zabuza Momochi."

Dokina said nothing for a few minutes. He just stared off into the sky, as if searching for something that only he could see.

"Thank you. I'm impressed with you as well. Up until this day I never met a ninja who could wield Genjutsu as well as you could."

"Thanks."

The silence between them continued again for another few minutes. This time Dokina broke the silence.

"So what about that intense battle we had before we were rudely interrupted? Who do you think won that?"

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it ended in a draw."

"That's exactly what I was thinking."

"So where do we go from here? I mean honestly we're both on the run from our respected villages and we really don't have anywhere else to go."

"Not to mention that we're both going to be stalked night and day by tracker ninjas, bandits, bounty hunters and the like."

"So maybe you and I should become one moving group. You know, start our own little group of rogue ninjas."

Dokina looked at Kaori, wondering if she was serious or not. At first he though she was just kidding but looking into her eyes, he could tell she really meant it. He had to admit, forming an alliance with her did sound pretty intriguing. If they were to perhaps find other ninjas like them on their travels, then they could increase their size and power. The whole strategy of "strength in numbers" was starting to sound very good to him.

"Ok I'll take you up on that offer. You and I will become a traveling group of rogue ninjas, traveling the lands. I'm also pretty sure that we're not the only rogue ninjas roaming the place. Let's form our own group of misfits."

"Yeah I like that idea. If we had at least one ninjas from every known village in our group we'd become unstoppable."

"Then it's settled. From now on, we are no longer solo ninja. Let's swear to stand together as one and to be safe let's swear it via blood."

Dokina and Kaori both took their swords and cut a small gash in their hands, making them bleed. Then they clasped hands together, symbolizing their union as both Mist and Rain united.

"So what should we do now?" Dokina asked

"Well I don't like leaving unfinished business behind." Kaori replied, looking at the bodies of their victims. "I say we go to those bandits hideout, kill the weaklings, and then finish off their leader. If we're lucky they're bound to have some treasure on them."

"Ok, but we better hurry. The suns almost down and we're losing our daylight. If we're lucky we can find their hideout in the early signs of the morning."

With those words the newly formed group jumped back into the trees and disappeared amongst the shadows of the leaves. Now it was time to rest and recharge for the coming battle. They didn't know who or what they were going to face when they found the remaining Forest Bandits. But they did know this: The blood of every last Forest Bandits would be spilled before the sun set again that night.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Truth Shrouded In Mystery**

Newly combined, the alliance of Dokina and Kaori sped off through the trees trying to find a place to rest. The fight was not really tiresome but fighting each other though did wear them down. If they could find some decent shelter for the night, they could get a good rest for tomorrow where they would slay the rest of the Forest Bandits. Eventually they did find a small cave nestled underneath the roots of a giant tree. They slipped inside right as it began to rain.

"Even here, the rain falls as free and unstoppable as time." Kaori sighed, staring outside watching it fall. She drew her sword and struck a giant set of rocks lying in a pile, igniting the brush near them and giving them a small fire. "As a child I would sometimes stop and just stare outside at the rain, watching it fall for hours on end. It was one of the few things that kept my mind off the state of the village. See, my parents were killed during the Ninja Wars almost 14 years ago. Since then I've been on my own, surviving on instinct and skills. Before they went off to fight for our village, my parents taught me everything they knew about sword handling. They used to say that I would catch on to everything they were trying to teach me really fast. I was a born natural you could say. Then one day they were gone and I was alone. Our village is mainly made up of war orphans. It's situated between the Lands of Wind, Earth, and Fire so the fields and forests near our villages usually become stained with blood."

"One day I got curious and headed outside the village to train. Actually that was a bit of a lie. I really wanted to see the battles up close and personal. I was only 13 at the time and was really getting good at swordsmanship. I was out near the trees and a ninja jumped out of nowhere and started attacking me. I don't know where he was from and why he wanted me dead so badly but he did. So I fought back with the skills my parents taught me. I was way younger than my attacker but clearly better than him. As my blade cut his body and stained red with blood, I felt something, a feeling I hadn't experienced until then. I loved the thrill of the kill and wanted more. So I started attacking any ninja from foreign lands who ever came near my village. I felt like it was my duty to protect myself and the people of the village."

"When the war ended I was cut off from my prey so to speak. It got really bad for me not being able to kill resulting in me being really untamable and hard to put up with. Nobody would talk to me or even acknowledge me. This greatly upset me. I killed for them and they return the favor like this? My temper may have been bad but hell it kept me alive. So I shut myself off from them and rarely came outside only to visit where I committed my first kill, which I never told anyone about. As I sat there in quiet meditation to stay calm, a small child came up to me. I could tell from the footsteps he made that he was young and naïve. When I opened my eyes and looked at him I immediately knew who he was. He was the son of a wealthy family of the Rain Village. I could still feel the heat of their stares as they would always whisper to themselves behind my back, calling me a "freak" and a "bad example of the village." I knew right then what to do to pay them back. I killed that little boy, cutting his body so badly that the blood splashed my kimono creating a semi-permanent dye. It'll never wash out ever. When I was done, I knew that they would come looking for him and then me. So I just left and ran, traveling the lands and watching my steps along the way."

Dokina sat there and stared at her, then at the fire.

"Those wars took a heavy price on us all. In the Hidden Mist, the government was in turmoil, trying to find a quiet and calm solution to the problem. It was a bad time, and most of our top Ninja were off at the wars, trying to make life here easier. I don't remember much about my childhood only that I never stayed in one place for too long. I liked to be on the move. Being stationary just bored me to death. The one day I met…_him_: Zabuza Momochi. He came to me with an idea of a coup d'etat of the Mist Village. Now obviously I welcomed that idea. At this point I'd do anything to shatter the boredom of this place."

"But Zabuza-sensei knew that I was not yet ready. He could see potential in me, potential that I had to fight to unlock. For weeks on end he trained me in between his missions. Being the head of the Mist Villages Silent Assassination Unit, he had much to teach me. From him I learned everything: Water Jutsu, silent killing, and most importantly, how to wield a large weapon. This sword I carry was one I crafted myself to match the sword he carried. It took me a long time to make it, but I was happy when I did. I'll never forget that moment when it happened. He looked me in the eyes and said "You're ready now. It is time for us to move."

"That day was the day he put his plan into movement. After all this time of recruiting, training, and keeping it all silent, he was going to do it. Sadly, the attempt failed and we were forced to flee. I remember running with him and his followers, knowing that I was now branded a fugitive, a rogue ninja. I loved that feeling and welcomed any opposition. In time his followers all split up and went our separate ways. I stayed with Zabuza because I still felt like there was something else he needed to tell me."

"One day while traveling the country we came to a land covered in snow. It was there that Zabuza found a small boy by the name of Haku. Haku was an orphan, his mom killed by his father and his father murdered by him. Zabuza could tell by the look in his eyes that he would be a great asset to our attempt at another coup d'etat. So for many years we stayed hidden, training for another take over. All of Zabuza's followers had been hunted down and killed. Only the two of us remained. Finally, Zabuza told me that now it was time for me to go out on my own, that he would call for me when I was needed again. I didn't want to go but decided that he knew what was best. That was the last time I ever saw him alive. It wasn't until years later I found out that they had both been killed during a mission. Their graves somewhere in The Land of Waves, which I intend to visit soon."

They looked outside and saw that it was now completely dark. So for now they would rest. It lasted only a few hours, for they had to move and catch the bandits' off-guard at their own lair. So at the break of dawn, they set off. It was a long journey, for the forests in the Land of Fire were great and vast. After many hours though, they caught a break. A small group of them were camping in another clearing in the forest. High above, hidden in the trees, Dokina and Kaori waited and watched. They could have killed them very easily but they couldn't let this lead go by. If they were returning from a raid they could lead them right to their lair.

One of the bandits stood up, grabbed a handful of kunai, and threw them right at Dokina and Kaori. The kunai hit them, but then Dokina and Kaori dissolved into water.

"Damn, a Water Clone Jutsu. They are well skilled." The man cursed as his two other men got up and tried to run off into the forest again. They did not want to be killed, nor seen at all. It was becoming just how clear they were desperate to stay alive.

Meanwhile, Dokina and Kaori were moving through the trees trying to keep up with the bandits. They moved as if they would be punished if they got caught.

"I didn't know they would be this quick. Obviously they are no normal bandits. I'm sensing that these are Shinobi." Kaori panted as they tried to keep up. "Good thing you substituted us with Water Clones at the last second. It would have made finding them even harder if we had let them out of our sight for even a second."

"Yeah I know, but even though they are still in our eyesight they're about to not be if we don't hurry up and catch up to them." Dokina replied.

"Wait. I just noticed that there are only two of them in front of us. What happened to that third one, the one who discovered us in the first place?" Kaori drew her sword and kept it at her side, ready for any kind of attack.

"Put your sword away, I have an idea." Dokina used the Transformation Jutsu and appeared as one of the Forest Bandits. "He'll be looking for us, not his own comrades. If anything, we'll just say that we were on our way from a mission and heard a commotion so we came to help. Kaori nodded, sheathed her sword and transformed into a bandit as well. Nobody would ever suspect who they were.

They chased after the two ahead of them for what seemed like hours, finally arriving at a remote section of the forest far from the Hidden Leaf village near the border. When they finally landed on solid ground, they walked toward what appeared to be a giant hollowed out cave like the one they had taken shelter in the night before. But this one was way bigger and could hold a lot of treasure. Plus this one was built into the side of a large rock face. Then their attacker who had discovered them landed behind them.

"What the hell are you two just standing around for? Come on, we have two ninja in the area who are after our kind. We have to get ready and be prepared." He yelled, looking red in the face.

Dokina and Kaori went with him into the base, which was inhabited by a large handful of other bandits looking just like them. Each one wore the same thing: loose short shirts, tight cloth pants, and a bandana on their head. Evidently it was the mark of all bandits to wear one. Inside, they spotted the ones that they had been pursuing. They looked out of breath, and had some worried looks on their faces. "They must know that we know where they are, so they're trying to amass their numbers for an all out war with us." Kaori whispered to Dokina. "A worthless effort like this will never work. We've both been fighting in battles long enough to know that this small group will fall within minutes."

"Yes but something concerns me." Dokina whispered back. "The ones we followed and the one who attacked us are no mere bandits. I suspect that they may have some Shinobi within their ranks that they reserve only for the biggest of jobs. Their leader, should he appear here, will not be an easy target to kill."

"That's alright. I wasn't expecting this to be too easy. I'll let you know now; I'm always open for a good challenge. It makes the kill more filling and fun."

As they were speaking on how to kill such a large number of people, a man who was also the one who attacked them yelled out for silence. "As you know, we've always been a group that is a force to be reckoned with. But now, there is cause for concern. A scouting party found three of our own dead, murdered very brutally, a few miles from this place. And just today, we managed to shake off a pair of ninja we believe are the ones who killed them. These are no normal ninja. We need to get ready and prepare for an all out defense. This base must not fall into their hands. A loud cheer erupted from the other bandits, all ready to fight for their group. Dokina and Kaori cheered as well, so as to not raise suspicion as to who they were. They followed everyone outside as well. Soon the bandits were organized to protect every area of the entrance.

Dokina and Kaori were split up and couldn't communicate to each other. They knew this, and had prepared themselves for just such an occasion. Minutes passed, and not a sound was made. The bandits were poised, ready to attack whoever appeared. They did not know what was in store for them. Dokina quietly got ready, and signaled the start of the attack.

"Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu." A thick mist began to set in the area, lowering visibility for everyone who was a bandit. Dokina could control the mist and have it affect whoever he wanted. When it was dense enough, he and Kaori transformed back to normal. They readied their swords and began to work. The silent air was now thick with the screams of murdered people. Again and again they fell, killed by the blade. Those that were not killed immediately either tried to offer resistance or flee. Either way was met with untimely death. The mist began to rise and what awaited was a massacre. Men lay dead on the ground, their blood staining the ground. The sunlight peeked through, making the bloody blades of Kaori and Dokina glisten.

Another sound was now heard: a sound that sounded like hands clapping. They looked around and saw a single figure at the mouth of the cave entrance. He was a built man, with a whip at his side. He wore the same clothes as all the other bandits but had a pin on the front of his bandana, which indicated his rank was most likely the leader of the Forest Bandits.

"Good show, you guys. I would have never guessed to see Kaori Tanaka and Dokina Abetara working together, considering the crimes you two are guilty of. When I kill you both, I'll be rewarded a great bounty."

"You wish." Kaori snapped. "Just who the hell are you?"

"Ah yes. Where are my manners?" I am Lutaka, leader of the Forest Bandits."

"Lutaka? Yes I've heard of you. You're a ninja from the Hidden Stone Village. You were such a disgrace to the name of ninja that you were kicked out. You're not even worthy of the name of ninja. The way I see it, you're nothing but a common thief, no better than the ones we just finished."

Kaori hit a nerve, for now Lutaka got very angry. "Hmph. So I always let my comrades take the full damage and I land the final hit. What's wrong with that?" He grabbed his whip and smacked the ground a few times. Dokina and Kaori readied their weapons again. Lutaka charged them, striking at Dokina first, who avoided the attack and swung back. Lutaka dodged that attack and instead swung at Kaori. She attacked him, aiming for the whip hoping to cut it in half but missed. Lutaka used that momentum, using his whip to wrap it around her leg and swung her toward the ground. As Kaori hit the ground, Dokina jumped in the air and came down on him. Another whip appeared and held fast his sword. "_What, he has two of them?" _Dokina thought. Lutaka now had one whip wrapped around Kaori's leg and the other one around Dokina's sword. In one motion he swung Dokina's sword right out of his hand and into the side of a tree and brought Kaori up into the air and down again. Kaori started to hack away at the whip but it wasn't giving. Whatever it was made of, it was a tough material. She didn't know what else to do but it was better than eating dirt.

Dokina, now devoid of his sword, now had to use other options. "Water Style: Water Bullets Jutsu." The water collecting on the leaves of the trees around them began to move and form a huge ball, heavy enough too kill. Dokina though, sent a small bit at Lutaka who attacked it with his whip but to no avail. The water was heavier than the whip, hitting it with enough force to break it. Lutaka threw the remains of it away and turned toward Kaori, who was now up and on her feet. She was in his face in seconds and landed a hard right to his face, sending him into a tree. "Damn bastard, flinging me around like some cheap toy." She snarled, throwing the whip aside. Dokina got his sword out of the tree and rejoined Kaori. "Well that was fun. What's next?"

Lutaka groaned, not down for the count. "That was a hard right you hit me with there. But I will not be killed by the likes of you. Earth Style: Stone Shower Jutsu."

Lutaka landed a hell drop into the ground, sending up a flurry of rocks, round and sharp. They flew high into the air, and came down on Dokina and Kaori. They moved left and right, jumped forwards and backwards sometimes jumping from one tree to another. The rocks kept coming, regardless of wherever they went. Lutaka used the confusion to grab his one good whip and stopped the Jutsu. "Very good, but I haven't even released my full power yet."

"Well neither have we Lutaka." Kaori yelled from the tops of the trees. "You ready?" she yelled to Dokina situated from the tree opposite her. Dokina nodded. "All right then. Let's go."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Enter the Field of Fire**

With that one "Let's go." Dokina and Kaori leaped form the trees, right at Lutaka who readied himself for their attack. Kaori reached into her holster and threw a few shuriken at him, which he deflected with a single lash of his whip. "As I thought." Kaori yelled, now unsheathing her sword and unleashing a single slash, while Dokina sliced through the air with his sword as well. But their attacks were stopped by Lutaka's whip, who had both of their swords caught between what appeared to be blades. "Ninja Art: Whip of Blades." Lutaka smiled and lashed his whip, using the force of his attack to knock Dokina and Kaori backwards. "You see my sending a bit of my chakra through this whip, I can cause the blades embedded in it to come out, kind of like a sword breaker weapon." Looking at the whip now, they saw that it had three blades on each side, each protruding about four inches long. With that jutsu, he could trap any sword attack they threw at him, rendering them useless.

"Face it. Your sword attacks are nothing when fighting this jutsu. It makes me practically invulnerable to any kind of attack form that manner. I say Dokina; I think I even broke your sword a little."

Kaori looked at Dokina's sword and sure enough she saw a crack running through it, as if the sword was about to break. Then she noticed that Dokina didn't seem scared or anything about the fact that his weapon was slightly broken. In fact he seemed like it didn't faze him at all. Kaori was even more surprised when he started laughing. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"That a man like Lutaka thinks that he can easily break my sword. Don't forget, I crafted this sword so that I could match the one carried by Zabuza-sensei. He was regarded as one of the Legendary Swordsmen of the Mist, a powerful sword wielder. And you think that my sword will break just because you scratched it a little? What you just did was ask for a demonstration of one of my favorite moves to use."

Dokina kneeled down so that he was face level with the crack that was running through his sword. With one finger he traced along the crack very carefully. After that he traced along the sword in a certain pattern almost as if he was outlining another sword within the sword. The he stood up, grabbed the handle and yanked upward. The sword became two pieces, and the sword that used to be the bottom had a handle as well. The scratch wasn't a scratch after all. It was merely the seam from where Dokina would separate the sword at will. He traced the pattern because that was the outline of his second sword. The sword wasn't hollow either. It would only break into two whenever he needed it to and until then, would stay as a strong sturdy one-piece sword.

"Double Buzz saw Attack." Now Dokina had two smaller blades in his hand, each with the same curved blade. "Let's see you try to stop this attack now." Dokina rushed Lutaka and swung both swords. Again Lutaka swung his whip and again they managed to snag both of Dokina's attack. "One sword, two swords it doesn't matter. I will still trap every one of them." laughed Lutaka. "Then how about three swords instead?" Kaori was in the air above Lutaka and Dokina. She quickly descended down upon them and as she got close Dokina managed to get his swords free and jumped back from Lutaka. He couldn't block her sword attack as she cut him. A puff of smoke emitted as she hit him and a small log replaced where he was standing. "A substitution jutsu." Now Dokina and Kaori were on the defensive.

Again they stood back to back, this time looking for where he had run off to. "If he won't appear the normal way, we'll have to flush him out." Dokina said. He created 4 water clones, each one looking like him, and sent them off in four different directions. Sure enough the one that went north dissolved into water, and they moved to that position. He was hiding in the treetops, trying to catch his breath. Now he had not only Kaori and Dokina fighting him again but also three water clones. Even though they only possessed 1/10th of Dokina's power, they still were something to be dealt with.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu." Lutaka created five of him and commanded them to attack. Now Dokina and Kaori didn't know who to attack. "He's got to be somewhere around here." Dokina said as he swung his two swords and managed to kill one clone, causing it to disappear. "Either that or he ran away again." Kaori replied, killing another one. With their respective clones gone, they were able to deal with the other three clones. The forest grew silent again, and Dokina and Kaori had lost sight of Lutaka again. Dokina sighed and looked toward the treetops, hoping to see him.

"LOOK OUT!" he yelled, grabbing Kaori's arm and pulling her to the side. A giant boulder came crashing down and fell right where Kaori was standing. "Damn, he's using his Stone Shower Jutsu again. Only now we don't know where he's attacking us from." It became déjà vu all over again, with Dokina and Kaori having to dodge rocks, big and small, as they approached them. Sooner or later either he would resurface or one of them would get literally stoned to death. As they moved around the treetops again, Dokina and Kaori crossed paths while jumping to different branches, and got hit with a large boulder. It knocked them out of the air and down to the ground. Luckily the boulder landed elsewhere and not on top of them.

The struggled to get up, that boulder was pretty big and knocked the air of both of them completely. As they did they looked at each other. Dokina saw that Kaori had small cuts on her forehead while Kaori noticed gashes in Dokina's left cheek. It was the first time that both of them had ever drawn blood. "Damn it. I didn't think this guy would be such a nuisance." Kaori said in between breathes. "I know. Clearly we underestimated him. But I think he has also underestimated us as well."

Just then, Lutaka appeared from the trees and appeared before them both. "Do you now understand the difference between us? I am far superior to you both."

"I thought a pompous ass like you would think stuff like that." Dokina panted, managing to stand up. "But the one thing about us is this: We are rogue ninjas for a reason. Never count us out of any fight, no matter who you are."

"All my life, I was looked at like some kind of weirdo." Kaori added. "The Hidden Rain village never treated me well, and it's because of that that I became the person I am today. Someone like you, who just uses others for his work and claims the glory will never know how that feels. That's it. It's time to die."

With his bit of energy Dokina jumped in the air towards Lutaka. As Lutaka got ready to use his whip Dokina put his swords away and formed the signs. "Water Style: Water Bullets Jutsu." The water still collecting on the tree leaves formed again into a large ball, and again Dokina only sent tiny bullets. But now that Lutaka's whip had its blades coming out he was ready. He slashed through the water, drop after drop of water dissolving into a small puddle. In the middle of his attack, he caught sight of Dokina's swords coming at him through the air like two saw blades. He tried to move but it was too late. The blades hit him and nailed him to a nearby tree. He looked at his hand and saw that he had dropped his whip when he got hit.

"I could have made the bullets a little bit tougher to destroy but this was all that my chakra would allow. Now my swords have you pinned to that tree. Don't worry I didn't touch you at all, merely pinned you under the arms by your clothes so you can't make another hand sign." Dokina walked calmly towards Lutaka, who was struggling to free himself. "Don't bother. Those swords are so embedded into the tree; it would take a lot more effort to get them out." Lutaka didn't listen and continued to try and free himself.

"Dokina, let me handle him from here on out." Kaori said as she approached him. "Let me tell you a little about myself. I'm a lover…of very painful deaths. Therefore yours will be the most painful of all."

Kaori closed her eyes for a minute and then opened them again, staring straight into Lutaka's eyes. For a minute nothing happened. Then Lutaka started to struggle again, but this time with way more force to try and break free. He started to cry out in pain, his screams getting louder by the second. Dokina stood back, looking very surprised by all this. Kaori just kept staring into his eyes, not breaking her gaze. Lutaka let out one more bloodcurdling scream and then just went silent.

"What did you do to him?"

"Fire Lily Jutsu. It's a unique form of Genjutsu I pride myself on using when I have to. Basically I attacked the hypothalamus gland in his brain which controls the temperature for his entire body and his senses of touch and sight. What he felt and saw was a world entire devoured in flames. The trees, the water, the grass, even the air is just pure hellish flames. While that's happening, I attacked his brain, which began raising his body temperature. Between him feeling his skin being melted from his bones and his body temperature starting to rise to unimaginable heights, it wouldn't be too long before something would have to give. Eventually it was Lutaka who gave."

Dokina pulled his swords out of the tree and Lutaka's body fell to the ground. The battle was over for them. They went inside to the hideout and deeper inside found what they were searching for: money. The bandits had left one room specifically for all their treasure. There were piles of money and other various items scattered around the place. "Finally, we can sell all this stuff and live a little better." Kaori smiled, starting to stuff some of the money into her kimono pockets. Dokina put some away in his vest pockets until he spotted a small carriage. They piled up what loot they could put on it and began to set off again, eventually getting out of the forest and getting onto a road. They then set off for the nearest town. "I can eat some decent food and sleep in a freaking bed now. Hopefully nobody at the nearest town knows who we are." Dokina said as he pulled the carriage along the road with Kaori behind it in case of more attacks.

"Well not every village has heard of us and few villages have any kind of military force other than a handful of guards." She said.

"That's good to know. But we better hurry along and find a place to rest. It's gonna be dark soon and this pile of money we got here makes us a vulnerable target."

Eventually they did find a small town. Not wanting to raise suspicion because of their loot, they hid it in a nearby abandoned building and set a few wire traps just in case. If anyone tripped the wire, they would get a shower of shuriken for their troubles. They walked into town and sure enough, went largely unnoticed by the people of it. They were too tired to do anything so they bought a room in the inn and got the chance to sleep in a nice bed with no fear for the first time in a long time.

* * *

The blood still was wet from the bodies of the fallen Forest Bandits. Nearby Lutaka's body lay there still as anything. A lone figure stood in front of it. He looked at the body and then at the others. "Yes…yes it was both of them who did this. This could prove tricky for me now." The figure jumped into the trees and headed for the town. "Dosu my brother don't worry. One day I will have my revenge. He will pay for what he did."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Their True Calling**

The sun rose on their new day. Dokina and Kaori woke up and returned back to where they hid their loot. The loot stayed untouched, as was their wire traps. Now with a vast amount of wealth with them, they didn't want to keep it around. It would make battles a lot harder for them if they were trying to protect it from anyone trying to steal them. So they decided to splurge a bit and get rid of most of the jewels and other valuable things that the Forest Bandits had collected. Kaori bought a new sheath for her sword made out of purest silk, and Dokina bought a small grindstone for his sword. After many long battles he needed to keep it sharp and ready for a fight. They both paid a visit to the local blacksmith, who gave their swords a complete clean and shine.

"You two look kinda familiar." He said. "I've heard of a bunch of rogue ninjas were reported being seen somewhere in the Land of Fire. Be careful, or they'll run right through you." With that, he gave them back their swords, and they left.

"That was odd. What do you think he meant when he said that we looked familiar?" Kaori pondered as they lugged their now lighter cart with them. They had also stocked up on rations, shuriken, and bandages. "Hell I don't know." Dokina replied. "But If I didn't know any better I'd say that he was talking about us. It's strange; I didn't think that we were known in these parts of the world. But now we have to think of something. What are we gonna do if we have to suddenly leave the scene. We can't necessarily take the cart with us"

"Well then; we'll just have to sell it as well. I have filled up what I could with food and money and your vest can only hold so much as well. We still have some stuff left over but that'll go anyway. Take what we can and sell the rest. I'm hungry though so let's find something to eat."

They parked the cart nearby and sat down in a small outdoor restaurant/bar, that didn't have doors just little threads of cloth they walked through. They ordered up their meals and started eating, but Dokina didn't eat much and Kaori, seeing his expression, stopped eating as well. It was no doubt that what the blacksmith had said still lingered in their minds.

"Look Dokina." Kaori pointed at the wall of the place. It was plastered with WANTED posters of ninjas that were wanted by just about anybody: merchants, townspeople, high powered government officials and the likes. There names were on two of those posters.

"Wanted: Dokina Abetara. Rogue ninja from the Hidden Mist Village. Wanted for attempted coup d'etat of The Land of Water's government. Considered highly dangerous." On the poster next to him was the poster of Kaori.

"Wanted: Kaori Tanaka. Rogue Ninja form the Hidden Rain Village. Wanted for the murder of the child of the wealthiest family of the Rain Village. Highly knowledgeable in the art of Genjutsu."

"So what that blacksmith was talking about is right. We are familiar to those seen in the area because we ARE those ninjas." Kaori got up and tore down both posters of them so that nobody would see them. "We got to move soon. No telling how long it'll be before someone catches on to us."

"You mean like right now?"

Kaori turned around and saw five armed guards standing near their cart, blocking it from view. Dokina got up and stood beside Kaori, if things went wrong.

"Dokina Abetara and Kaori Tanaka, you are both wanted for your crimes and must be brought in even if we have to bring you both in half-alive." A guard said who appeared to be the head guard. They moved in towards them with their swords brandished.

Kaori put her hand on the hilt of her sword, but quickly removed it. Instead she focused her chakra and blanketed the guards and anyone on the general vicinity of them with Genjutsu. This for of Genjutsu was a basic technique called the Illusion Jutsu. Now their minds were making them believe that that they were being overwhelmed by clones of Dokina and Kaori. In reality, Dokina and Kaori were long gone, having left as soon as the attack started. They quickly retreated back into the forest surrounding the village.

"Well that went over well." Kaori scoffed. "So much for us making a little extra money. Though I will say that this whole thing didn't turn out all bad. We did get us some cool new things, plus we were able to stock up on necessary items."

"Yeah, but we have to issue something Kaori." Dokina replied as they leapt through the trees. "When we agreed to join up we never decided how to make each other a former member. If we're going to recruit other ninjas, we had best come up with some proof of membership, if you may say."

"You seem to forget Dokina, what we did when we did join up." Kaori looked at her right hand, which now bore the scar she inflicted on herself when she cut it to join forces with Dokina.

Dokina looked at his hand as well, which also bore a scar. "I say we make that our proof. A single slash to the right palm, just enough to bear a scar. We'll consider that initiation if you will."

"I bought some black cloth as well on a whim also." Kaori said, reaching into her pockets and pulling it out. She cut off a small piece and threw it to Dokina, who tied it around his hand. "Keep it on at all times, and the same will go for every member we get. Even if they wear gloves or some other accessory for their hands, it's the only way to get in. This isn't a little schoolyard gang. We're operating on a much bigger scale." She tied a small piece of it around her hand as well.

"Very nice idea, but may I ask why the color black?"

Kaori laughed and smiled a little. "Let's face it. We've both done some pretty horrific crimes. You've tried to overthrow a government and ran around with a legendary swordsman. I've killed a child just because of what his family did to me. Let's look at it like this way: people look at one-time murderers and consider them docile."

They kept moving, and eventually stopped after an hour of running. "I think we lost them." Dokina panted. "What's next on our agenda?"

Kaori held up one of the wanted posters from the village. "It's telling of a ninja named Butona Atigama, whose been spotted not too far from here in a mountain village. Like Lutaka, he's running a small bandit ring. Only these bandits don't just pillage travelers and merchants. They are stronger than Lutaka and therefore able to pull off bigger operations. That village we just fled from knows a little about him. One of the merchants I was buying and selling stuff with told me about him. He stole a good deal of her merchandise in the past as it passed through their village, or "checkpoint." Eventually the village hired Shinobi of the Leaf Village and the situation got resolved.

However Butona swore revenge and sure enough rumors of him mounting a comeback have been spreading. Of course we don't that for sure, but it's a safe bet that something's going to happen soon. Plus this all happened about 6 months ago. It's possible that he could have something new up his sleeve.

"So did that woman you talked to hire us? Or is this something you just decided to do?" Dokina asked.

"Well I guess I did get us kinda roped into this whole thing. She asked me to do it for her. I told her that we normally don't do favors and that we really had bigger problems, but she was persistent. So I just said yes. She said that she'll get our cart and hold it for us should anything happen to it. When we kill him, we're to go back to her. She'll meet us at a select spot outside the woods."

"Alright, I'll do this too. But I'm telling you Kaori, this feels a little weird. I've never done a favor for anyone except Zabuza. Plus don't you think this woman will double cross us?"

"She seemed really desperate for help, and I don't think she would turn on us since she'd be indebted to us. Besides if she does try, what's the worst that she could do to us?"

Before Dokina could answer, there was a shrill high-pitched noise that blasted them both. They both put their hands over their ears.

"Argh, dammit what is that noise?" Dokina yelled.

"I don't know but it's killing both my ears and head." Kaori yelled back.

Even though they were only a few feet from each other, the noise caused them to yell so that they could be heard. They looked around, trying to find the one responsible for the noise but couldn't find anyone.

Then a shadow jumped from the trees above them and landed right in between them. It moved toward Dokina, punched him in the stomach and a small sound wave erupted from the person's arm, knocking Dokina backwards. He fell from the trees towards the ground.

"Shit." Kaori jumped down after him to catch him. The mysterious figure appeared next to her and sent another sound wave at her. Kaori put up her arms and blocked it from hitting her in the face, but it still knocked her backwards and disrupted her balance. She crashed into a nearby tree and fell the ground just as Dokina hit the ground as well.

They both looked up and saw a man, dressed in light purple camouflage pants, and a light purple shirt, mainly covered with a purple camouflage scarf, with the right sleeve shorter than the left one. He wore the same kind of shoes of a Shinobi, except they were, of course, purple. His face was covered in gauze except for his right eye, which was looking at them both with a raging fury.

"Never did I think that I would find both of you in one place and not kill each other. You both must be getting softer if you'd fall for a simple attack like that." He raised his left arm, and the sleeve fell revealing a metallic object around his left arm form his forearm to his wrist. It was made of metal and had numerous holes in it. "Now prepare yourselves." He said "For the melodious style of combat you'll see first hand from me….Ondu Kinuta."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**The Melody Man of Sound**

Dokina and Kaori lay there on the ground, a little battered and bruised from Ondu's surprise attack. He just stood there with that metal structure around his arm, just daring any of them to attack.

"Ondu Kinuta….another rogue ninja like us?" Dokina and Kaori thought. They didn't really know how to handle this kind of a situation. For some reason, that arm of his had the power to control sound and wind, or at least one of the two. But just what was it exactly?"

"Ahh I see you two are perplexed by this contraption of mine. It's called a Melody Arm. It allows me to control the sound waves and vibrations traveling through the air using my chakra. With it, I can turn the battle to my advantage. You see, vibrations are caused whenever you clash weapons or if you hit this thing. After that, I can direct the sound to go anywhere I want but as my brother did years ago I am more concerned with the array of "gadgets" inside your ears. I could make you go deaf in a matter of minutes if I choose to."

"Dammit, that is a powerful weapon indeed. But why do you hate both of us? Or a better question is: why are you targeting us?" Dokina asked, standing up on his feet finally.

"Because I heard that there is a large sum of money for the both of you either dead or alive. I need the money to fund my travels."

"What are you traveling for?"

"To find and kill that bastard, Orochimaru."

Dokina and Kaori got a startled look on their faces when he said that. "Orochimaru...he's one of the most powerful ninja to have ever come from the Leaf Village. He's one of the legendary Sannin, a group of three ninja that were students of the Leaf Villages most powerful leader, the Third Hokage (meaning leader, or most powerful ninja of the village). He's mastered a lot of ninjutsu over the years, some of which he created. How do you plan to kill him?"

"I don't know." Ondu started. "But I'll begin with killing both of you."

He dashed at Dokina, who had already got his sword ready, and attacked him. Dokina swung his sword which was targeted at Ondu's head. But Ondu was quicker and put his Melody Arm in the way. The clash of the two weapons caused a great vibration. Dokina gritted his teeth as the head pounding vibrations emitted from the holes in Ondu's Melody Arm.

Kaori, meanwhile, had also gotten up and was quickly trying to help Dokina. She made the appropriate hand signs and launched her attack. "Tree Capture Death Jutsu." She yelled. Roots sprouted from the ground at Ondu's feet, but he saw them and dodged out of their range as they sprouted into a tree. Dokina took the opportunity and attacked Ondu again. Knowing that he couldn't attack him with a weapon he tried another approach. He stuck his sword into the ground and used it as a launching pad, striking Ondu with a kick to gut. Ondu groaned in pain, but did not back down. He used the kick to his advantage and punched Dokina in the stomach again. Again, sound waves emitted from his Melody Arm. Dokina was thrown backwards into a tree, his sword left in the ground.

Kaori again was trying to capture Ondu. Again and again, she launched one Genjutsu after another. Without Dokina to keep his busy, Ondu had more time to dodge her attacks. "Your skills in the art of Genjutsu are as good as they say." Ondu said. "But I am not one to be taken lightly." He finally took off towards Kaori, forcing her to draw her sword. She knew what would happen if she hit that arm, but she knew that it might happen. Punch after punch was thrown at her, and again she dodged them. Finally, she swung her sword and hit the Melody Arm.

"Silly girl, knowing what would happen and yet you hit it." As the sound waves pulsed out of his arm, Kaori looked at him. "No it's you that doesn't know what will happen, silly boy."

"What?" Kaori vanished in a puff of smoke, and a log was in her place. "A Substitution Jutsu. She's better at combat than I thought" Ondu cocked his Melody Arm, waiting for an attack from her.

There was a rustle of leaves behind him. Ondu turned around and there was Kaori leaping at him, sword raised. He dodged her attack at attacked her, but again Kaori vanished, revealing just another Substitution. Another rustle in the leaves revealed not Kaori, but three Dokina's. "So, you are an expert of the Water Clones." Ondu leaped at them, and grabbed one Dokina's sword, swinging it at another one and causing them to disappear in a body of water. The last one leaped up high and came straight down with his sword. Ondu dodged that attack and delivered a solid right fist, destroying the last clone.

Meanwhile, Dokina and Kaori were hiding in the trees, trying to catch their breath. "Dammit, I had no idea this ninja was so strong." Dokina gasped.

"No kidding." Kaori replied. "I caught a glimpse of his headband during the fight. He's from the Hidden Sound Village. They made an attack on the Leaf village about two years ago. The attack failed, but they killed the Leaf Village's Hokage. Orochimaru leaded the raid. Why this guy hates him so much is beyond me."

"Because he is responsible for my brother's death and he will pay for that."

Dokina and Kaori stopped moving. Ondu was right behind them with two kunai knives both near their throats. "My brother Dosu was killed by the ally of the Sound at that time: The Hidden Sand Village. He was there just as a test dummy and nothing more. When I heard about this, I decided to leave the village to avenge his death, but to do that I need money. This is where you two come in. He readied his knives, about to kill.

"My my my…what a waste of effort, Ondu."

Ondu looked around, trying to find the source of that mysterious voice. In that time, Dokina and Kaori slipped away from him. When they got back on the ground, they began looking for the voice as well. Kaori tapped Dokina and pointed to a person hidden in the shadows. "Show yourself."

The figure stepped out into the daylight, revealing a ninja who had yellow like eyes. He was wrapped in a light purple robe. His skin was pale white with long black hair.

They stopped dead in their tracks, and could just stand there as they realized that it was none other than Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin. He chuckled again, and this was one that could freeze even the most hardened ninja's blood. "Your brother was merely the test drive needed for the curse mark I placed on my new apprentice. I must say he did rather remarkably well, as did your brother. He was foolish though to try and fight the Sand ninja. Their power far exceeded his."

Then he looked over at Dokina and Kaori, still frozen to the spot. "A small band of rogue ninjas trying to make their names known through death and destruction. The days are gone where brute strength can conquer everything. But I'm sure you two knew that already didn't you. Dokina you, your sensei, and Haku left the Village right before the Kaguya clan made their attack on your ex-village. A bunch of barbarians knew not the trap they were walking into, and they were entirely wiped out. Kaori my dear, your village is made up of orphans who have lost much due to war and turmoil. Nevertheless, I see potential in you both, which I may have to wipe out now."

With that he pulled down a little on the skin near his eye and stared straight at them. Dokina was lost in a sea of black separated from he saw his own body being torn apart, his blood flowing like rivers from his body. Then everything returned to normal, and he was fine…physically. Mentally, he couldn't move. He was paralyzed with fear, a deep kind of fear that would break the spirit of any living being. He fell down to his knees, his sword falling from his hand and landing on the ground.

He looked next to him. Kaori was on the ground next to him, a look of panic on not just her face, but in her eyes. They both knew what had happened. They had just witnessed the moment of their own death. They didn't know if it was an extreme case of Genjutsu, or if it was a glimpse into the future.

Orochimaru had moved and was now stranding right in front of them, an evil smile on his face. "As I thought, even rogue ninjas crumble before the face of great power. You two are now no more than harmless weaklings."

"You forgot about me Orochimaru."

Ondu moved to where they were, and stood there facing Orochimaru, his Melody Arm at the ready. "My brother died before he got the chance to fight you. Now I will fulfill his last command, and defeat you here and now. He made a quick punch at Orochimaru, but he ducked the punch and moved back while a sword came out of his mouth, The Snake Emerald Sword. He drew it, and attacked Ondu.

While Ondu battled for his life, Dokina and Kaori still lay there on the ground, too scared to move. They couldn't even move their bodies they were so scared.

"I've got to overcome this feeling, and get out of this state of mind." Kaori thought. She started thinking of her options, and then she got an idea. "Dokina I need your help."

Meanwhile, Ondu still battled Orochimaru through the trees and leaves. The sword wielded by Orochimaru cut through any form of cover that Ondu could hide from. Soon the whole ground was littered with leaves and branches. Ondu was constantly on the defense and never on the offense. He thought "So this is the power of the legendary Sannin. He lives up to his name."

Finally Ondu was nearly spent on all of his energy. Orochimaru leaped and his sword gleamed. Ondu was too tired to fight back or use his arm to defend himself.

Two small swords appeared, zooming towards Orochimaru. He knocked them away at the last minute and landed on a nearby branch. The swords returned to Dokina, who caught them and quickly joined them into one sword again. He and Kaori were now standing beside Ondu as if to protect him from any nearby attacks. On each of their leg was a freshly bandaged stab wound, blood slightly seeping onto the bandages.

"So you have done what my young apprentice did when confronted by this situation." Orochimaru chuckled. "I take my leave then. Other matters await me now." With that he vanished in a flash of smoke.

"Damn it. All these years, and he still gets away from me." Ondu hit the tree with his fist, causing it to vibrate violently and causing everyone to get off it. On the surface, he sat at the base of another tree, and said nothing.

"Come on Dokina, we have to get going. That base isn't going to destroy itself." Kaori stated. Dokina looked at her, then Ondu, and nodded. They both left Ondu there at the battle site and headed for Butona's lair.

Hours passed, and soon night fell over the lands. Ondu remained sitting there. Then he felt something odd, something that hadn't been there before. He drew something out of his pocket, stared at it, and then left. "Brother…your death WILL be avenged. I know that you will trust my decision on this."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**A Classic Den of Thieves**

"Are you sure that was a good idea to just leave him like that?" Dokina asked as they raced through the trees. "You do know that he will still be trying to kill us to get the bounties placed on our heads."

"Maybe, but at the moment I hardly doubt it. The fight with Orochimaru seemed to shake him up quite a bit." Kaori tried to say it with a strong front but in her mind she was thinking other thoughts, about how to kill the enemies when they got there. These were more of a challenge and maybe two rogue ninjas just couldn't fight them all no matter how skilled they are. However she didn't vocally express them, and didn't let Dokina in on her thoughts.

"By the way, how is your wound holding up? I know that was pretty extreme to stab ourselves but pain seemed to be the only way to conquer the fear at the time."

"It's holding up all right. Nothing dangerous, we were lucky to avoid hitting any major veins."

"Good. I'm alright too. So let's just hurry the hell up and find this bastard so that we can get more money. That woman better hold up her side of the bargain and keep our money cart safe. If she doesn't…well then it's just gonna be one less person for the world to worry about.

They continued their trek through the woods, which took them a lot longer than what they had originally thought. They had to eventually call off the chase for a short while to get some rest. So they decided to rest up in a clearing in the middle of the woods. The valley was close by which meant that they could be there tomorrow afternoon to kill Butona and his goons. Eventually they got bored and decided to fully go over what they had bought while in town. Kaori held her new sword sheath in her lap and was amazed how it seemed to glimmer off the light of the moon. Dokina, on the other hand, got out his grindstone and started to grind and sharpen the blade of his sword a bit to get it ready for tomorrow.

There was a rustle in the leaves, and they both paid attention to it and tried to find out where the sound was coming from. It could have just been the wind. But no, this was the sound of many people moving through the trees. Perhaps they were the people of Butona's gang, or just some straggler ninjas from a nearby village. Either way, they were a threat and had to be dealt with as such.

"Kill that light."

The fire was doused, and all became dark again. Nothing could be seen except the light smoke rising from the smolders. Minutes passed and then they appeared from the woods. Four men entered the clearing where they had been resting. These men were different from the Forest Bandits. They wore light colored camouflaged jackets, boots for climbing through the terrain, and they all wore a symbol on their arm. It appeared to have been cut into their arm as a member of the group. It looked like a rock or a small boulder, but with a crooked image in the middle. Dokina and Kaori couldn't tell what it was and didn't care what it was either. The men just stood there looking for whoever had left the fire in such a hurry. Whispers could be faintly heard, ranging from "The lair has been compromised" to "Could they be on their way?" Whether or not the "they" meant them or someone else was unknown. Either way, they had to be dealt with.

The men were suddenly taken aback by the strong gust of wind that had just blown in, and the fact that their senses were starting to go awry.

"Fire Lily Jutsu."

That was all that had to be done. The Genjutsu spread and attacked them all, killing them amidst the screams and the agonizing pain. Dokina and Kaori emerged from the trees and observed the bodies. They appeared to be from the mountains, which pointed to Butona's gang.

"So what do we do now? Do we leave or hang around here for the night?" asked Kaori.

"It's tough to say Kaori. If we move onwards then we will be missing needed rest. However, if we stay here then we could be ambushed by other henchmen who know of this route and will be wondering why the others haven't shown up. This rogue ninja business thing could really catch up to us. But for now, we'll rest."

They rested for the time being,, and were sure to be careful so as to avoid any unnecessary situations. They slept one at a time, each one staying on guard duty in rotation. Eventually, light broke through the treetops and morning came. They awoke and ate what provisions they had stored in their pockets before leaving for the journey. It was another long journey. They were moving into enemy territory and had to keep watch for any guards or patrol members. They did not find any one and finally found the hideout, nestled in between both sides of the canyon. "Well this is where we sit and we wait." Kaori said. "Any time now the leader will come out and inspect what his people have brought in. The woman told us he does this at least two to three times a day. We will strike when he comes out for the final time, which will be around the middle of nightfall."

With that being said, they did nothing but wait for him. Many times, they saw patrols come and go, but to avoid being seen they had hid in the thickest trees where the leaves hid them from view. Hours passed and still nothing exciting happened. They also began to notice that Butona didn't show up for inspections of any kind.

"Dokina, have you noticed something about the sun?"

Dokina looked and noticed what Kaori was talking about. "The sun hasn't moved an inch since we touched base here. It's as if time has completely stopped while the world goes on around us. You don't think it's…"

"I do: Genjutsu. We were so concerned about avoiding the many patrols that we didn't notice our surroundings. No doubt they have us caught in their trap, and judging from how much time I think has passed I'd say we've been in here for quite a while."

"What do we do now?"

"The same thing we do every time…kick their ass." With a flash of steel they moved from their hideout and onto the ground below, looking for the one who was using the Genjutsu.

"I don't see him. Do you?" asked Dokina.

"No, and it's starting to piss me off." Kaori replied. They looked from left to right, and from right to left. Nothing could be seen at all.

Suddenly, the ground under them moved, and two pairs of hands grabbed them by the ankles. "Earth Style: Underground Ambush Jutsu." Before Dokina and Kaori could hack at the ends, a loud thump could be felt on the backs of their necks. They passed out in an instant, and were now helpless to the power of these new pair of bandits, who surely didn't take it well to newcomers.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**Trapped**

Pain…that was the first thing that Dokina and Kaori felt as they awakened from their blow to the back of their necks, at the hands of those bandits from the mountains, and the pain was excruciating. They could feel it everywhere; in their arms, in their legs, and specifically in their torso. Looking around, they noticed that they must be in a form of prison. Their cell was not made of steel, but instead just a cave cut into the side of the mountain. Their cell door was made of steel though.

"Caught by a bunch of bandits that easily huh? I must be getting rusty." Kaori groaned. Looking at her, Dokina noticed that her face was busted up. Cuts were on her face, and dried blood was coming from most of those wounds. Kaori looked at Dokina and noticed the same for him. They got up and noticed that not only were their swords gone, but all that they had carried with them. The treasure and food was all gone.

"Dammit." Dokina said, punching the stone wall. This only brought on more pain for him, as his hand was now pulsing with pain.

"It looks like we may be here for a while. They must be debating on what to do with us." Kaori sighed. She sat down with her back to the wall and closed her eyes, trying to control the pain she was in.

"Yeah it looks that way." Dokina replied. He sat down beside her and just stared outside the door. It was mainly dark, meaning that they were either deep into the cave, or the time of day was night. "Nothing else we can do but just sit and wait for something to happen, though in our current state we couldn't do much of anything really." He leaned his head back and continued to stare off into the unknown. "They were good people weren't they?"

Kaori opened her eyes and looked at him. "Who?" She asked.

"Your parents Kaori; that's who I'm referring to. You said that they taught you everything you know. They must have been great people, to love you and to instill their combat techniques in you."

Kaori looked straight ahead again, staying silent for a small while. Then she broke the silence. "Yes, they were magnificent people, wildly known in the Rain Village. I was proud to be their daughter and the one to carry down their sword techniques. I remember them saying to me that I would one day become the greatest swordswoman in the village, because no one could beat me in a sparring match. I was happy to hear that, and I always thought that all the children around my age were jealous of me because of my family. Maybe that's why they didn't try and comfort me the day I heard my parents died. All I heard was a knock on my door. I ran to it, crying out Mommy and Daddy. But when I opened the door, they weren't there.

"Laying there in front of the door was the sword of my parents, and a note beside it. I read it and it said that the village sends their regrets but that my parents had died for their village. Their last words were to give me that sword. I cried so hard that day, my tears mixed in with the rain falling from the sky. Sometimes I think my parents were crying that day too, and their tears were falling on me trying to say sorry for leaving me alone.

"Even though I was really too young to understand, I knew that they were never coming home and that my only source of happiness was gone. As I told you before, it was only till later that I knew that they were killed in the war. That's something a person who just turned 13 should not hear. I'm 27 now and have been living on my own, fighting for myself all this time. Now tell me some more about yourself. Do you remember anything about your parents?"

Dokina looked back at her. "No not really. I wish I could say I knew them but I was little at the time that they were killed. The details of why were never made clear to me. Some say they were killed by the same people who were trying to overthrow the government. Others say the total opposite, saying that the government's ninjas killed them. I drifted from one place to another, afraid to get really close to anyone. This continued for years until I was 17. It was then that I met Zabuza-sensei. For the next three years I trained under him, until we attempted, and failed, the overthrow of the government. We stayed in seclusion until we went our separate ways two years later. One year to the day that we parted, I learned that he had died in the Land of Waves. So I took a page out of his book and started taking odd mercenary jobs for money, all trying to get to his gravesite. I've been doing that for another two years. Now I sit here with you in this dark and dank dungeon, possibly waiting to die.

"I don't know about you." Kaori said. "But I refuse to die here. I may be injured, even to the point where I think some bones are broken, but A Shinobi never dies without a fight. I found this nearby. I guess they must have over looked it while they were searching through our pockets earlier. She reached down and picked up Dokina's grindstone. "Now we just wait for the guard to come by, and when we does…well we'll just take it from there."

"Well how good are you at taijutsu?" Dokina asked.

"I'm not really good at it at all really. I spent most of my time working up my swordsmanship and Genjutsu. What about your skills of hand-to-hand combat?"

"The same goes for me. I spent most of my time working on Ninjutsu. There's no water here to use, so it's out of the question. It wouldn't matter anyways. I'm drained of chakra and my energy is barely holding up."

"Yeah me too. So we can only hope that we can find our weapons, get out of here, and find some place to rest. We can't fight in our current condition."

There was a noise, and Kaori held the stone in her hand, waiting for what would happen. A light could be seen, which turned out to be from a small handheld torch. A guard came into view, smirking at both of them.

"Look at the two of you, the duo that supposedly wiped out the entire group of Forest Bandits. If you ask me, you two got there as soon as the real killers left. It was a fate chance wasn't it? You get the glory and everyone fears you, HA."

He set the torch in it's holder near the door and leaned in so he could get near their faces. Well don't worry little prisoners. The preparations are almost done. We're gonna have us a public execution. Your bodies will be sent back to that village that no doubt sent you as a warning to all not to mess with Butona's Mountain Bandits."

"Oh it's the Mountain Bandits now? What are you guys, some league of bandits from all over the nations?" Kaori sarcastically replied.

"Oh, so now you're going to crack jokes huh bitch?" The guard yelled back. There is more bandit groups out there than you two can slash your pretty swords at. We all co-work together, never invading each others territory. But when the call comes, we will fight together. I take it you never got Lutaka's last name did you?"

No we did not. Frankly we didn't care what it was," said Dokina.

"Well get ready, cuz it's Atigama. Lutaka is Butona's brother, who gave him reign over the Forest Bandits. He's been highly pissed off since his brother was killed. He swore that he would enjoy making…you know what? I'm done talking to you guys."

"How convenient for you then," said Kaori. She threw the stone at the guard, striking him in the head. He turned around, reeling from the blow. Dokina rushed up and grabbed his arms, pulling them back and preventing him from attacking. Kaori reached through the bars, grabbed the guard, and snapped his neck. His body fell to the ground in a dead heap.

"We're done talking to you too," said Kaori as she fumbled through the guards pockets looking for the keys. She finally found it and unlocked their door. They snuck quietly through the dark halls, taking the torch that the guard had left. They would peer cautiously around corners looking for any sign that someone had heard the conversation they had with the guard. One turn after another and after a while it seemed to go on forever and that they would never find their way out.

"It seems that we highly underestimated these bandits if they are all in league with each other," said Dokina, peering around another corner.

"I know what you mean," Kaori replied. "To think that there are leagues of these bandits all over the Nations is remarkable but yet scary. If they ever banded together for one massive attack, the smaller villages may not be able to repel the attacks. They'd be essentially pilfered and plumaged until there is nothing left."

"Things have gotten more complicated then," said Dokina. "There is no way that we could fight such a large force. We will need more reinforcements. Even if we were to help the villages under attack it wouldn't be enough. Most villages don't have a very large army. They are mainly made up of farmers and merchants."

"We will have to hold off then and kill Butona another day. Things being what they are, we're in way over our heads."

There was a small noise that echoed around the walls of the tunnels. Dokina and Kaori waited, breathes held, for any kind of movement that happened. They heard voices coming from the tunnel ahead. They moved carefully on ahead, moving up ever so slightly until finally they saw some light up ahead. Inside was a large room filled with loads of treasure and other assorted items.

"This must be where they keep whatever they steal and are holding for another day," said Dokina. Amazed at the amount of treasure he saw, he could only walk around the area trying to see what he could find. Kaori looked around too and the two began to search vigorously.

"I can find just about everything but our swords," Kaori yelled from across the room. They looked through treasure in the form of gold coins, diamonds, ancient artifacts, but no hint of their swords.

"Shhh I think I hear someone," Dokina whispered. They stopped searching and listened for what sounded like voices. They hid under the dense piles of treasure as the voices got louder and closer.

"No I'm serious man. I went to go check up on him and there he was dead. Apparently his neck was snapped. I thought Butona said that they were a big danger until their swords were confiscated."

"No that's just the idea what they want you to think which you're clearly not doing. These two are in a class of their own if they're able to kill without weapons. That or they got really lucky. Either way we had best go inform Butona of their escape. Come on, this way."

Two Mountain Bandits came into view of the treasure room but did not go inside. Instead they took another road, one that Dokina and Kaori didn't see earlier. When they had gone a good distance away, Dokina and Kaori emerged from the piles of treasure.

"Looks like we've got us a lead," Kaori whispered in a quiet tone. "I say we follow them. They may lead us to the exit or where our swords are."

They began to follow the two bandits at a distance. It was tough as the bandits would sometimes walk down a tunnel and other times would run down a tunnel. Finally, after turning the corner on one tunnel, they finally caught sight of sunlight.

"Fighting those two will be no problem," said Dokina as they began to run for the light. "We'll just kill those two, and leave the place. We can come back for our weapons another day."

They ran into the light, where the sight was less than inviting. They had made it outside, and right into a large crown of bandits. They began laughing as Dokina and Kaori saw them and then broke up the group, revealing a man who stood at a normal height. He wore a large camouflaged vest, tanned pants, and a pair of very strange looking gauntlets. His face had a scar on it that ran from one cheek to the other. His eyes were fixed on them and started walking toward them.

Not knowing what else to do, they readied themselves for attack. The man rushed them straight at Kaori. She started the fight with a powerful right hand, but he caught it easily and the other strike she threw at him. With amazing strength he picked her up by hands, leaving her to dangle. Dokina rushed him and attacked from the side, hoping to catch him off guard. With grace, the man leaped up and gave him a powerful side kick before throwing Kaori at him. They crashed and rolled into the ground, the pain coming back to them.

The man slowly walked up to them, and they tried to get up but to no avail. He punched Dokina in the side of his face, and then kicked up Kaori into the air before sending her back into the ground with a powerful elbow to the back.

He slowly turned toward the bandits yelling "Get them ready." As they ran over to pick up Dokina and Kaori, he said "My name is Butona Atigama. Welcome to my lair."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**The Nick of Time**

Dokina and Kaori were helpless once again, unable to fight against the mob of Mountain Bandits that were now carrying them off towards who knew where. It seemed that they were heading through the tunnels again, down one passage after another. Finally they were carried out again into daylight, this time to a small courtyard like area that was totally engulfed in the mountains, hiding it from view. Unless someone was on the top of those mountains, they would never be able to find this place, a perfect area to carry out interrogations or executions.

The courtyard was mainly covered in dirt and dust, with small wooden bleachers situated around the center of the courtyard. In the center the ground was made of stone along with the dirt, and there was dried blood all around the center. No doubt that this was where they killed anybody who dared to fight them. The bandits dumped them on the ground, not caring if they were dropped on their head or their neck for that matter. They just wanted their moment to let them know who they were and who they were up against.

Butona walked toward them, and the crowd fell silent. Everyone held their breath waiting for what he had to say. He looked at Dokina, who was bleeding from his nose, arms, and face. Then he looked at Kaori who was also bleeding from her mouth, torso, and hands. Then he simply said "Get them ready," and left the crowd to do what he had commanded.

As soon as he was gone, one bandit reached for Dokina, but Dokina snapped at him, trying to bite him. "When this is over, I will have your blood," he said. That started a backlash with the bandit putting him boot on the back of Dokina's head, driving him into the ground and grinding his face into it. "I'm sorry, you're going to do what again?" the man asked. "From here you don't sound so tough now do you?" Kaori tried to get the bandits to back off but it only ended with her getting the same treatment as well.

This led to more of a backlash with the bandits now swarming in. Each one wanted to get a shot at them and wouldn't be satisfied until he had it. Kicks, punches, words, and spit were thrown at them one after another. As far as Kaori went, this was the worst she had ever been since beginning her journey as a rogue ninja. All she could do now was try to avoid losing consciousness and think of a way to get out.

That would prove to more difficult than imagined. For one, this was the territory of the Mountain Bandits. They had no knowledge of where they were or how to get back out of the tunnels. Even if they could get away from the crowd they did not have their weapons and were dangerously low on chakra. Attempting to escape now would not only lead to a bigger punishment, but death. However, it seemed death was approaching them anyways so it really didn't matter.

Finally, the bandits were done with their enjoyment and begin making preparations for Butona. They took two long and thick wooden stakes and drove them each into the ground, making them stable and able to avoid being knocked over. Then they tied both Dokina and Kaori to their respective poles, tying their hands and legs to them as well to prevent any kind of escape. However the conditions of both of them proved that they were in no shape to even try to escape. When it was all done, Butona showed up again and the bandits retreated to the stands, eager for what their leader was about to do now.

"My brother was very important to me," he started. "I spent all my life I tried to teach him the business of how to run a small but successful empire, how to rob, steal, and kill in order to survive. I finally handed him control of the Forest Bandits because I had confidence that he would make me proud with his success. Now he's dead and you two are to blame. You may be wondering though how I know all of this. You forgot one bandit when you slaughtered the rest of them. He hid and witnessed the battle of you two versus my brother. Then he ran here and relayed the information to me. I figured you may want to come for me so I decided to get my men ready, in case you ever did stumble into my territory."

"So how does it feel, to be the ones pinned to something and having no way of escape? Now you will suffer what my brother suffered at the hands of Butona Atigama, leader of the Mountain Bandits." The crowd cheered and went wild for Butona, arms raised as if he had already won the battle. Of course, with the current events at hand he could do anything he wanted to. Then he lowered his arms and the crowd fell silent, breath held for what would happen next.

Butona approached both of them, and instead of hitting either one of them, attacked them both at the same time, driving his fists into their stomachs. Kaori immediately closed her eyes from the blow and coughed up a thick wad of blood. It fell to the ground, there to become another memento of the victims that had succumbed to the brutal beat down of Butona. Dokina coughed and gasped for air, thinking that at least 2 or 3 of his ribs were broken. Butona stepped back and admired his handiwork.

"Does the pain make you want to die?" he asked. "You can thank these gauntlets of mine. They are enhanced when I run my chakra through them making even a weakling ninja able to deal some crushing blows, like so."

Butona crouched down and cracked his left fist into Dokina's left leg and his right fist into Kaori's right arm. Even from where the bandits were sitting they could hear the bones begin to splinter and shatter.

"_DAMMIT_," Kaori thought as the pain rippled throughout her body. "I don't know how many more of these blows I can take. My arm is useless now and there's no telling where he'll strike next."

Next to her, Dokina was thinking the exact same thing. "If this stake wasn't holding me up I wouldn't be able to stand right now. What the hell do we do now?"

Butona stopped watching and started to attack again when one of the bandits yelled out, "Sir, wait a minute." Butona stopped attacking and looked at the man who said that. The bandit got up from his seat and walked over to Butona amidst the murmurs of all the others.

"What is the meaning of this, soldier?" asked Butona as the bandit approached him. "You've got some nerve to do this."

"I apologize for the rude interruption Butona, but I just got a report that I think you'll want to hear."

"Well go on."

"There has been a sighting of another ninja roaming these lands. I don't know if he's just passing by or with them but I thought you might like to know."

Butona's face got serious looking. While this could be nothing more than a group of ninja traveling towards a mission, the matter may be best if looked into. "If this is true I must know something. What does the mysterious ninja look like?"

"Well according to the reports that I got he looks like a qualified ninja, though he looks rather young for his status. I couldn't see what village he belonged to, but his clothing suggested that it wasn't from anywhere near here."

"Well then what did it look like?"

"It looked like this," yelled an unknown voice.

Butona looked up towards the origin of the voice. There was a lone ninja, cloaked in the shadows atop the mountains. "The reports of your men would probably say it's me would it not?"

"Who are you, strange one?" yelled Butona. "Why don't you come down here and let me see your face?"

"If you so choose to see me, so then shall you see me," the figure yelled back.

Butona kept his watchful eyes on the figure, waiting and watching for it to move. He felt a tap on this shoulder and looked around to feel a kick in his face that knocked him to the ground. Looking up he saw the figure who was none other than Ondu Kinuta himself. "How did you surprise me like that?"

"Clone Jutsu you simpleminded moron," said Ondu. That figure atop the mountains was never me, and that "bandit" who told you about me wasn't a bandit either. It was merely a simple case of find the straggler, kill him, and assume his role." I figured that in your excitement you wouldn't notice one man gone and that also in your excitement you'd be on edge for any kind of news of intruders. Apparently I was able to read you like a map."

Butona struggled to his feet, wiping off the small trickle of blood that etched from his mouth. Rage filled his body. How dare this ninja come into his base like some hero, trying to stop his fun and his revenge for the death of his brother! "Well then…Ondu was it…how do you plan on getting out? There are many of us but only one of you, and your Clone Jutsu won't work again."

"Maybe, but who says that I require the Clone Jutsu to defeat you? You may draw power from those gauntlets of yours, but that is only borrowed power, nothing more than a cheap power-up. You're just like your brother: useless, weak, and unworthy of the title of a Shinobi."

Butona started to get furious at Ondus comment. He got up and wildly began to charge him with a flurry of punches. Ondu walked backwards slowly, easily dodging every shot thrown at him. Then with a simple brush of his arm he deflected Butona's last punch and at the same time delivered a powerful forearm blow. As Butona hit the ground with a crash he said "As I figured, your power is nothing when it comes to my sound based attacks. That last strike was just a small taste of my power, something that you could never grasp, not even in your wildest dreams."

Butona struggled to get to his feet, cursing as he did. "Damn you Sound Ninja," he said. "That does it. Mountain Bandits, attack and kill that man."

"Oh my, your actually going to rely on your hired muscle now are you?" Ondu said as the bandits got up from their seats and began to charge him, some with their fists while others wielded small blades. Ondu moved effortlessly and destroyed them all despite being out numbered and in most cases outsized. He dropped them all easily and without much effort. When he was done, he left bodies all around him and just Butona standing there alone.

"Now that the small fries are out of the way, what say we get this show on the road?"

Butona stood there half wanting to leave and the other half wanting to fight. Before he could make up his mind Ondu activated his Melody Arm, creating intensely violent sound waves that racked Butona's brain. He covered his ears trying to stop the pain but it kept coming in wave after wave. Opening his eyes, he saw Ondu advancing towards him, Melody Arm ready to strike. Butona had enough strength to dodge it and deploy a smoke bomb which cloaked him and Ondu.

"_Damn that Butona, trying to hide," _Ondu said to himself as he looked from left to right in case of an attack. The smoke cleared and there was no sign of Butona. Ondu stayed on alert, and then ran over to Dokina and Kaori. He cut the ropes binding them and helped break their fall. "Damn you guys looked like you went through hell," he said.

Dokina merely nodded, unable to speak or to give any other motions. Kaori neither nodded nor spoke, but just kept panting heavily. They both tried to stand, but neither one could get past getting on one knee before collapsing back onto the ground. "_Damn_," thought Ondu. "_This enemy did a number on them. It's a good thing I went through the trouble to save their ass. They're not good to me dead. I merely need them to help in the battle against Orochimaru_."

"I just can't leave you guys out here exposed to any kind of attack," he said. He picked up Kaori and carried her on his back, which proved to be difficult as she was taller than Ondu, who was still very young. Dokina leaned on Ondus shoulder slightly to stay on balance. Alone he had no chance of staying up on his feet. Ondu started to slowly move into the base, keeping a slow pace in order to let Dokina rest on him. It was not easy as the tunnels were yet again crawling with bandits. Ondu only killed a small handful of them, and there were still many left behind.

Eventually, Ondu was able to hide out in a small room in the corner of the hideout. There were no doors to hide behind, but as long as they stayed in the corner of the room, they had a chance of being largely unnoticed. Ondu laid Kaori in the corner and Dokina lay down next to her. What a pitiful sight, Ondu thought that these two who were able to kill Lutaka were dealt in with the newest piece of trash. He stayed by the door and kept guard even though they were hiding in the corner of the hideout and could not be found easily. There was still a chance that would happen so he would continue to be on guard. After some time passed, he started to wonder if they were going to be ok for the time being. So he used his Impersonation Jutsu and slipped into the base and found some food and drinks for them all. He returned to where he had left them and gave them the stuff he had found. While they tried to eat, he went back to his guard duty by watching the door.

"How much longer until you two are ready to fight again?" he asked. "For us, it may not be too long. However we require our swords. Without them, it will be difficult to fight Butona or anyone else for that matter," said Kaori. Dokina nodded in agreement and took a drink. His hand was slightly shaking but he was getting this strength back. Kaori was the same way. She was starting to be able to stand up. As of right now she was still shaky in the legs but was able to stand. They stayed there for a small while and then moved out in search of their swords. They stayed in their Impersonation Jutsu forms while they moved about. They asked a bandit that they ran into where the swords were. He said that Butona kept them in his room close to his bed. After a little more time they were able to get the information that they were looking for: the directions to the room. They found it and crept inside to find the swords kept on opposite sides of the bed from each other. "Finally got them," said Dokina as he and Kaori grabbed them. "Now let's get the hell out of here."

"Now if you left, then the party would be over." They turned around and saw Butona standing there with a calming expression on his face. "This party can't function without the guests of honor." He moved fast and appeared behind them all, knocking them down to the ground without much problem. As they were struggling to get up Ondu looked back at him. "How can you move this fast in such a short amount of time? You weren't this fast when we last fought."

"It's amazing what a short amount of time can produce Ondu" replied Butona. "I merely held back to measure the full power you possessed."

Ondu laughed a light laugh, to which Butona's face lost the smile he had. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"You can lie all you want but I know that your speed increased a bit. Your attack power is low. I could tell that you didn't hold back on that. While that may have hurt Dokina and Kaori due to their injuries, it's not enough to keep me down. The air vibrations are the same as they were when we first battled. Well you may call it a battle, I called it a warm-up. You couldn't hit a fly with those weak punches."

Butona's face got angry again, and he threw another smoke bomb on the ground, blinding everyone in the room. They started coughing and looking for him, but there was no sign of him anywhere. When the smoke rose, they found a hole in the wall. "Dammit, he runs away again," growled Ondu. He ran out of the hole with Dokina and Kaori following. They caught sight of Butona running through a small mountain pass that lead further into the mountains. "I can't let him escape," yelled Ondu and leaped after him.

"We better follow him," said Kaori. She and Dokina followed Ondu, though it was difficult to keep up with their injuries. They started to fall behind, but were still able to keep him in their sights. Finally, they noticed that Ondu had stopped and was standing in front of the side if a cliff that overlooked the forest. The area around them was small, yet adequate to move around in without any effort. No doubt that they were led here to have a battle.

"I would often sit here in peace and look over the side of this cliff," said Butona. "The Forest Bandits used to have a base there in that forest before it was moved to where you know. Now when I sit here I'll be reminded of what was and what will never be again. For that…DIE."

He tried to attempt his sneak attack and appeared behind them. As he struck with his fist, Ondu caught it in his hand without even turning around. He squeezed it, making Butona yell in pain before turning around and punching him with his free hand. Butona fell backwards, landing hard on the ground.

"Your brother died because he deserved to die. Those that use a group of people to just live off the riches of others are nothing more than common bandits themselves. You will wish that these two were not injured, because I will not make this last too much longer."

Butona struggled to his feet, wiping off another trickle of blood that poured from a wound made on his cheek. "Do you really think that it will end with me and Lutaka? If so, then you will find that you're in for quite a surprise. He rushed them again, this time going for Dokina and Kaori. They dodged his punches and attacked with both blades, but that was dodged again. Butona then dodged Ondu's fists and retaliated with a side kick, but that was blocked with a kick from Ondu as well. For a while the battle appeared to be just a plain Taijutsu fight. Finally, Kaori got enough time to get close to Butona long enough to make direct eye contact with him to attempt the Firelily Jutsu. Butona closed his eyes and released the Genjutsu, following it with a blow to Kaori.

Dokina sidestepped Kaori as she fell and swung his blade, which was caught by Butona.

"Keep trying and maybe you'll hit something," he said.

"Too bad I wasn't even trying to hit you," Dokina replied back with a small smile.

Ondu leaped onto the flat side of the sword, tuning his Melody Arm as he went. He struck Butona on his left temple, tuning the vibrations and twisting it into his ear by using his chakra. Butona felt the vibrations rock his skull, shaking it to a near deathly level. The vibrations twisting into his ear was all that was needed. The chakra flow entered his brain, imploding it from the inside out. He was dead before his body hit the ground.

Ondu kneeled over his body and checked his vitals. "There's no doubt that this Atigama is dead," he said. "Bout freaking time."

Dokina dropped his sword and fell back against a rock wall, followed by Kaori. "That's good, because I can't do this much longer."

"Neither can I," said Kaori.

A sudden noise interrupted the quiet that was around the area. Ondu readied himself for another bandit, but there wasn't another one. Instead there was a single person walking towards them, and that person looked unarmed. Upon getting closer, this person was revealed to be a female ninja. She wore dark red shorts over knee high fishnet stockings. On her side was a pair of goggles tied under a black sash around her waist. Her shirt was colored white and a light-ish red color. She wore bandages wrapped around her forehead and in the back entirely, while her hair, light brown in color, was tied up into a ponytail. She wore plated gauntlets that covered the knuckles and hand region and were dark red in color. Her eyes were brown in color and they were looking straight at Dokina and Kaori.

"Who are you?" asked Kaori.

The girl looked at her and approached them both while keeping a close eye on Ondu. "Don't worry," she said. "I won't hurt you. My name is Setsuri, and I'm a Sand Village Medical Ninja.


End file.
